Everyone Dreams of Love
by greenwhick
Summary: During a job a subjects' projection catches Arthurs' attention and he's determined to find his dream girl "up-above". Finding her isn't the hardest part though. Arthur/OC -Warning for some language
1. Chapter 1: Projections

**Chapter 1: Projections  
**

Arthur's pov:

She was gorgeous, a brunette, small, maybe 5'2 with big green eyes on a very elegant face. She was wearing a simple black dress and talking to a very well dressed couple near the wine and cheese table. Unfortunately she was simply a projection of a very wealthy man, John Carmen. John was the head of a very successful law firm, J.R. Law. The R stood for his partner, Ronald Harper.

This woman was amazing. The way she moved, behaved... The way she looked was extraordinary. This lady, this projection, I needed to know her. I hoped and prayed she was the projection of someone John truly knew, not just a passer-by from the streets his conscious had brought in. "Quit staring" I snapped back into attention and looked at Cobb, he had a slight grin on his face, he knew. "I don't blame you darling she is smashing" Eames glanced towards the projection before looking back at me with a good clap on the back. "We need to get going", Cobb cut in again.

We began to weave through the projections looking for Ronald in hopes of extracting information explaining the conflict between him and John. John had hired us to find out what rumors Ronald had been spreading that would explain why his clients were neglecting him and why everyone was fixated on Ronald.

It turned out I was the luckiest man alive, after asking John about his previous clients and who they were he pointed all their projections out. This goddess ended up being one of them. Unfortunately, being a client I got no information. Not even a name, but it was a start knowing she was real and that she was close. This news formed sudden hopes of finding her up above.

After locating Ronald and extracting the rumors being spread of John lying to judges and forming his own ideas and charging ridiculous amounts, we heard the music. Yusuf was beginning to wake us from the dream. I had to see her one last time, to memorize all her features, all her beautiful features so I could find her up above. I walked quickly back to the wine and cheese table, but she was gone. Looking around frantically I caught a glimpse of the top of her head through the crowd, her chestnut brown hair and beautiful big green eyes. I think she felt me staring because she paused her conversation with whomever and looked straight at me. I felt my heart race in my chest but only for a moment- I woke up.

A few days later I stole Yusuf and went back to John Carmen telling him I needed to revisit his subconscious and make sure we were right. It didn't have to be done and I don't think it even made any sense at all to do this but he seemed to believe me. I needed to get back there, I had to find her.

I constructed the dream as a cafe and hoped to god she liked coffee or tea or even a biscuit. I walked inside and sat down at a table and waited.. nothing. I walked outside and took a look around the surrounding street and shops, nothing but other random projections were inhabiting this dream. Damn. Where could she be? I reconstructed the dream back to that ballroom with the wine and cheese table hoping she would be some classy memory of John's that only fills this kind of surrounding.

I built the place exactly as it was the first time I saw her. I feel like such a creep but I don't care, some things just need to be done. However, some things just don't work.

I began to lose hope when my lucky streak picked up again. There she was, sitting at an elegant table with three others. I'm just gunna go sit down with them. Yup. I'm doin' it. I began to pump myself up and build the courage, practiced lines in my head and all the things I could say to her to make me sound cool and get information about her that could simplify things. But just my luck, as I approached the table I heard it, the music. Dammit Yusuf, I looked at my watch, he was right though the time was almost out. I almost ran to the table but there were so many people I had to push and throw my way through. As I approached her I slowed down and straightened my suit and gave my hair a quick check with my hands. I took a few more steps ignoring the music that was still ringing in my ears. As I approached the table and opened my mouth to say something she turned her head and looked right at me. I couldn't speak, I froze, I couldn't even think. She smiled, she was so stunning. I stuttered slightly as I regained my courage. 'It's ok that I'm acting like such a loser it's just a dream... she doesn't really know me.' I kept telling myself that as I tried to calm down. The music got louder and I began to panic again, "hello," holy Jesus her voice is like music to me. "Hi- " I was cut off as I woke up. My eyes opened and I realized I was just in an office with Yusuf and John looking over me. I sat up and put my head in my hands as I remembered that all of it wasn't real and I didn't actually meet her. "So? Is it correct?" John's voice blasted me out of my thoughts, "uh, ya, ya it's right" I mumbled out. "Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. I'm very great full for your thoroughness on the job." Yusuf chuckled silently knowing it was all a lie and we left.

We walked to the car in silence until it was broken by Yusuf, "So, did you find her?" I glanced at the Arab to my left, "ya, I did, but I took too long. I woke up just as I said hi." I looked away and sighed, "And I can't really use that excuse to get into John's head again." Yusuf chuckled, "ya, that excuse didn't even make sense." I huffed as I sat down in the car and started the engine. There was no simplifying this. I had to find her on my own, the old fashioned way.

For days I saw her face in my mind as I scanned my brain hoping to discover a way to find her, I had to find her, but how? How could I find her without a name or any information about her? I tried talking to John but he stuck to his morals and rules of client-lawyer-confidentiality. I had nothing to base my search on.

After days of racking my brain I began to give up, as painful as it was, when my streak continued. I was the luckiest man alive. I saw her, the top of her head, that chestnut hair and those vibrant brig green eyes. Grocery stores are amazing places, however, now comes the task of finding a way to talk to her and introduce myself without looking like a creep. It's a weird feeling knowing you know them but they have absolutely no idea who you are.

I didn't want to look like a creep but I definitely felt like one as I followed her through the aisles hoping she would drop something I could pick up for her, or maybe have too much to carry, or can't decide between basmati and Uncle Bens rice so I could have some excuse to talk to her. Unfortunately my streak failed when she made it to the automatic checkout successfully, but holy shit my luck jumped back into play. I could hear her curse as the checkout machine gave her problems and darted over to lend a hand, luckily I'm good with electronics.

"Hey, having problems?" I stuttered out with an awkward smirk.

"Hi" she said quickly, "yeah actually this... thiiiing... won't let me cash out" she huffed as she gestured frustrated towards the machine.

"Here, lemme help you," I had more of a voice this time as my courage began to work up. She took a few steps back as I got closer. I wish she had stayed put though, I want her close to me, I want to feel her, to know her.. I want her.

I poked away at the machine until I fixed it and got her groceries rung through for her, the whole time I could hear her making little frustrated noises behind me, embarrassed she couldn't do it herself. "Thank you... for your help", I turned my head and straightened up a bit, "you're welcome, anytime, my name's Arthur by the way", I stuck out my hand to shake hers, my formal habits beginning to take play. "Haylie" she said shaking my hand with a chuckle. Haylie, I repeated in my head, what a beautiful name, it suited her. We chatted for a moment about nothing in particular, but it was the most amazing conversation for me.

I went back to the warehouse where Cobb and the others were waiting, "where's dinner?" asked Eames, noticing no bags in my hands. Damn. I forgot that part. "Feed yourself," I responded quickly, "I just had the most amazing luck. I found her in the grocery store" Eames just stared at me, "found who". "HER! From the dream, I found her finally." "Found who, that broad in the black dress from the lawyer job?" "Yes, aaaaahhh finally, it feels so good to know she's real," I flopped down onto the chair beside me. "Did you get her number?" asked Yusuf, I simply blinked back at him, got up, and walked away. Damn.


	2. Chapter 2: Plans Plans Plans

**Chapter 2: Plans Plans Plans  
**

Haylie's pov: (just after the grocery store)

I loaded my bags into the trunk and closed the door then grabbed my keys and headed for the driver's side. The handle was frosted over and I could barely get the key into the hole. As I sat in my driver's seat waiting for the windshield to defrost I couldn't help but think of that man from the store. He was so well dressed, his hair was sharp and his face was perfect. He was lean and had a perfect stature, strong yet at the same time looked comforting and warm. I wished I had got his number. "Arthur" I muttered allowed to no one but myself.

Loading the bags from my car to my apartment was cold and slippery and harder to walk than normal since I wasn't paying attention to anything at all. I tripped over rocks and curbs as I continued to think about Arthur. Why did I not get his number? I contemplated trying every number combination possible but that was a brief and clearly stupid thought that passed almost as quickly as it hit. I called up a friend of mine, Nicole, to come over... I'm bored and needed distraction. We watched TV and puttered around a bit until I just had to burst, "ooooh my god I met the cutest guy ever today," "Oooo do tell!" I told her the story of him and the machine from hell, the whole time my face was covered with dreamy eyes and a solid blush. "I hope I see him again," I finished. "Aaaahh I'm sure you will, this place ain't thaaaat big, I'm sure you'll run into him sometime" she said with a reassuring smile.

Nicole left around 12:30am after watching 'The Departed' for the millionth time. That movie trips me out it's so intense. I brushed my teeth and pulled on some booty shorts and a tank for bed, brushed back my hair that hung just past my shoulders and tied it up in a ponytail. I looked at my legs before I jumped into bed. I hated them. They look too gangly to me, everyone else says they're not n' that I have 'the booty from heaven' but I'm convinced they say that because they have to. They're friends and they're meant to make me feel better. Pulling the covers over my shoulders I slowly drifted off into the best dream ever. It was all about him, all about Arthur.

Work sucked today. I had all the crappiest customers and of course the counter machine had to break. I hate working in a bank; I'm not even good with numbers why did I even get hired here.

Marching into my house I checked the messages on my phone. I had a text from Jason, my buddy from high school. He was a cool guy, loves sports and works at a clothing store in the mall. "Hey Ragdoll, we're all headin to the Southgate Pub tonight you wanna join? We're headin' around 8 so just gimme a call. Chooowwww ;)" I chuckled a bit; he always calls me Ragdoll, don't know why but it seemed to stick. It was a weird nickname from way back. I texted him back, "Hello hello Ratface, see ya at 8 ;) how're you gettin' there? Pick me up?" I began to get some dinner ready, Kraft Dinner; I wasn't in a classy mood. "Yea Shawna's gettin' me around 7:45, I'll ask her if she can grab you too. I'm sure she won't mind you're not far" I put down the wooden spoon I was holding n responded, "ok cool just lemme know :)" seconds later my phone went off again, "fo sho Ragdoll".

I sat to eat my KD when my phone went off again, "Ladybean! Southgate tonight! 8 o'clock!" It was Nicole this time, "yup! Jason told me, Shawna's gonna pick me up later I think so I'll see ya there :)"

After throwing my dishes into the dishwasher I strutted off to get dressed. I threw on some woolly black leggings and a longish tan colored shirt, a baggy gray sweater and a big dark grey looped scarf. "We're here! Come out Raggy." It was Jason. I rushed off to the front door, grabbed my long brown purse n threw on some black boots. I slammed the door shut and locked it and ran down the front path to the blue Cavalier waiting for me outside.

I was immediately punched in the shoulder by Cory as I sat down. I deserved it though, a few days ago I stole his winter coat and in this weather that was a pretty cruel thing to do. "Ouch! You mongrel, I said I was sorry," I buckled in as he made faces at me and reorganized himself. "You guys ready?" Shawna called back to us, "Yup!" "Mhm" "good to go" we all responded as she took off. Jason and Cory had clearly started drinking at Jason's house before Shawna picked them up. You could tell by the way Jason kept changing the radio station and Cory kept talking about absolutely nothing. It didn't matter to me though cause I was barely listening, all that played through my head was him. Arthur. He's all I can think about; I burnt my Kraft Dinner because I was so distracted. How d'you burn Kraft dinner? No clue, but I did it. I couldn't stop thinking about him. I met him for what, a whole of ten minutes? And I'm immediately obsessed. Whatever, I'll drink it away. I'm not a heavy drinker or partier at all, I used to be, but the love of that faded away when I started having to work early and be professional about it; but I just couldn't figure out how to make myself stop dreaming of him, so I'm gunna drink it off.

Arthur's pov:

Today was torture. After seeing her yesterday at the grocery store I couldn't stop thinking about her, I had to distract myself.

"Got any news of another job?" I asked Cobb, "I have a few leads but nothing serious." "You mean to say we have a free night with nothing to do and no one to see, hmm?" "Looks like it, Eames" Yusuf has that same mischievous look on his face as Eames does, something terrible is about to happen I just know it. Yusuf has been around Eames way too long now and it's had some effect on him, he's almost just as rambunctious as Eames is, not as much of a ladies' man but still. Too much 'Eames' in one place isn't good. "Go grab a case shall we, darling?" Eames gestured towards the doorway as Yusuf got up in agreement. 'Eh, why not' I thought to myself as I got up too, "I'm coming". "Arthur.. .Really? You're going to tag along to the liquor store..." Eames responded in astonishment, "classy bottle of expensive wine I assume?" I just gave him a funny stare, "and what's wrong with that exactly?" "Oh nothing" Eames said with a cheeky smile.

"That comes to $104.63," said the cash out girl at the liquor store. "Excuse me?" Yusuf was appalled, "$104.63?!" "Yes, for the liquor and pop". Eames piped up from behind, "We could drink at the pub for just over that, love. Are you sure we can't come to some kind of arrangement?" Eames winked at the girl who blushed and started to get nervous, "I'm sorry, I can give you a free cup?" "That's fine, it's fine, I'll just pay for this and we'll forget about it more and more the drunker we get." Yusuf tried to play the referee between the two. I took a deep breath and looked towards the door, "Let's just hit the pub. The warehouse is boring anyways." Eames looked at me with the most shocked face I have ever seen. "Arthur darling, really, you want to go to a pub... If anywhere I assumed you'd suggest some fancy lounge," I shrugged, "Why not", "Alright then, pub it is. Cheers kitten" Eames waved at the girl as we left. Sick, she looks like she's just turned 21. Eames has about 11 years on her.


	3. Chapter 3: Drink Me Sane

**Chapter 3: Drink Me Sane  
**

Haylie's pov:

"Keep 'em coming!" Jason yelled to the waitress as she brought him another beer. "Shit man I'm gunna be leavin' this place HAMMEEEERED. No exceptions," ugh, Cory hammered is so annoying, he likes to get right in your face and wave around like a lunatic. Plus it was karaoke night that meant Cory was going to be even more obnoxious. So far I've had 3 beers and a porn star shot. Not sure I like them they're too sweet, but some guy down the bar sent it over and how dyou say no to free booze?!

Arthur's pov:

I followed Eames and Yusuf into the pub, 'goodie, karaoke night' I thought to myself. We took a table near the patio, Eames said it was so he could go for smokes without going far, but I knew better. Right beside us was a table of rowdy drunk girls and you could tell he had made them his mark. I scanned around the pub as the waitress walked over, "Hello boys what can I get for you?" "Hello hello," he was looking her up and down, "I'd like a pint of your house beer thanks," "Same," copied Yusuf, then she turned to me, "I'll just have a glass of wine, red, whichever one's best." "Alrighty, are we starting a tab tonight? Separate? Together?" "A tab yes and together please," Eames said with a flirtatious smirk. "Can I get a name?" "Yusuf." Eames grinned, "Hey!?" Yusuf threw a glare at Eames, clearly peeved he had been volunteered to pay, "Fine," he grumbled. The waitress laughed as she wrote down Yusuf's name on a paper and left back to the bar to get the drinks.

Haylie's pov:

"Rock, Paper, Scissors!" "Dammit! Aaaugh, I ALWAYS lose! Kay, I'll buy the next round then." It's true, Nicole always lost. I don't know how to be bad at a game of chance but she really is terrible. "We'll take another round please!" She called to the bartender who lifted a mug to assure he'd heard her. "Yooouuuu suck," Cory taunted her relentlessly for the next 2 hours as she continually lost the game and ordered round after round of beers. Jason finally jumped off his barstool, I guess he just couldn't contain himself any longer, "I'm doin' it. I'm singin'. Y'cant stop me." He ran up to the karaoke machine and grabbed the mic and the book of songs. We all knew what he was gunna pick, he picks it every time. "Oh dear god I am SO sick of this song!" Shawna grabbed her water and chugged it back in frustration, slammed it down and demanded a new one. She's behaving like she's drinking, it's rather amusing actually. Then we all heard it, the music. As the first few notes of 'More Than a Feeling' by Boston began to boom through the pub we all spun on our stools to watch the magic that is Jason singing.

Arthur's pov:

Karaoke drives me nuts in the first place and especially when the singer sucks, but the drunker I got the better it became. Eames got me started on beer by telling me it was a man's drink and that every chick in the bar thought I was a tool for drinking wine. I gotta admit though, I was likin' it. After he finished his drink Yusuf was trying to flag the waitress but having zero success. Eames tried with no success either (which damaged his ego somewhat, not being able to get a girls attention). "I'm just gunna go up and get it, this is stupid." They all looked at me as I got up, "any requests?" "Um a round of tequila please darling, thank you" I turned to Yusuf, "just the beer thanks". "Alright, round of beer n a round of tequila." Heading towards the bar I kept repeating the order in my head, it was such a simple order but I didn't want to screw it up somehow. I squeezed myself between some people talking at the bar and forced a hand in, "Can I get ya somethin buddy?" Hearing his gruff voice I looked up at the bartender, "Ya 3 beers, 3 tequila thanks," "Alright," as he was bringin' up the shots and beers I turned looking to the side n let my eyes wander around the place. The pub was packed, people everywhere. I had wanted to play pool but I'd have to win the table to play n I don't think I'm good enough to beat those guys. I turned back to the bartender as he was pouring the last shot. "Thanks," I said with a nod as I grabbed the tray of drinks which I almost dropped when I noticed her. She was just down the bar about 10 people away from me. I stood stunned for a moment then stumbled off back to the table with my mouth hanging open like an idiot. "Alright Fishface, what's got your panties in a bunch?" I looked up at Eames, "She's at the bar... Haylie's here." Yusuf's eyes darted around the pub quickly sitting straight up in his seat while Eames, caring much less, simply reached for the tequila and his beer. As I sat I slowly reached for mine and took a swig I thought to myself, 'what do I do now?'

Haylie's pov:

"Oh. My. God. Cory shuttup, ugh why do we even drink with you?!" Shawna got up furiously and stormed off for the bathroom in a huff, "Way to go Cory." Nicole took off after her, "What? It was just a joke! She'll get over it," Cory downed his beer, grabbed the next one he had ready and left for the patio pulling his smokes out from his pocket which left me n Jason at the bar. "Shots?" He turned to me, "aiight, bring it," "jäger bombs?" He said with a mischievous grin, "Jäger bombs," I confirmed looking at him with a slow gangsta-like nod of my head. "Hey! 6 jäger bombs!" The bartender again lifted an arm to confirm he heard Jason's order. He was a regular here so the bartender didn't mind his rude and obnoxious behaviour. After 3 jäger bombs each in a row we started to get a little giddy. When Cory got back from his smoke he noticed the empty glasses in front of us and right away ordered 3 jägers for himself to catch up.

Nicole and Shawna eventually emerged from the bathroom to see Cory and Jason up on the stage belting out Journeys 'Don't Stop Believing' and acting like retards. "I'm sick of this. I'm heading out. If you guys want rides I'm going now. If not, you're cabbing." Nicole and I looked at each other, "I'll come with, I have to work in the morning anyways." That was a lie, Nicole didn't work in the morning, she just wanted to stay with Shawna to keep her calm. Shawna had just been dumped harshly by her boyfriend through a text message and Cory chose not to understand that it was a touchy subject for her. Shawna is a very sensitive person, one bad joke and she could fly off the handle. "Where's Nicole at? And where's Shawna?" I looked at Jason, "they left while you guys were up there. She's pissed." Cory pulled out his smokes again, "We'll I'm going for another smoke. Anyone care to join?" "Eh, why not," I got up n grabbed my sweater n scarf off the back of the chair. Jason shrugged n got up too and Cory led the way over to the patio door with me n Jason giggling like children and shoving each other playfully behind him. Finally I gave Jason one good solid shove in front of me that made him hit the door; I laughed and looked down and to my left. I froze, and not from the cold open door... there he was, Arthur.

Arthur's pov:

As I continued to drink my drinks, round after round, racking up Yusuf's tab I also continued to glance at her. She is so frickin' cute. I heard her laugh and looked to see her sitting with only one guy now. The others had all left; I think one of them was just on the patio though. I wonder if this one's her boyfriend, they seem really close. My heart sunk a little and I looked away. "Just take a shot Arthur, let her go", I think Eames reads minds or something. Although, being a Forger, he can probably read expressions and body language better than any of us. He passed me a muddy looking shot, "It's a Burt Reynolds, cheers" he lifted his shot and clinked with Yusuf, they both waited for me until I picked up mine with a sigh and clinked theirs, "Cheers" I said dully and downed my drink.

Eames was trying his best with those 10 girls at the table beside us. He sent a round of Bubblegum shots over to them and waved coolly when they turned to him giggling. Eames watched as a tall blonde girl from their table went outside for a smoke, "Excuse me gentlemen," and he got up and followed her calmly. "That guy, eh," said Yusuf shaking his head with jealousy, "How does he do it". I looked towards the door, "I know eh... Any girl any time... I wish I had that," "You mean 'had her' ya?" Yusuf added giggling. I sighed looking down at my beer in hand. I looked up as the guy on the patio went back to Haylie and downed some drinks. My life got worse when two guys started singing (or whatever it is they call it). It was the guys that are with Haylie. I downed my drink and ordered another, I thought I would be drunker than I am now considering how much I've had but I really wasn't feeling a thing. Yusuf got up with a jump, "Nature calls, be right back," and he darted off to the washroom. Left to my own thoughts I couldn't help but think about her. I glanced up when I heard a bunch of commotion between Haylie and two other girls, one of them was freaking out. Finally the two girls left and left her on her own. I thought about getting up to talk to her but just as I made up my mind to do so the two guys she was with came back from the stage. One of them, not the potential boyfriend one, pulled out some smokes and they all headed for the patio. I wish I'd gone out there with Eames, I don't smoke but she'd be there. I thought about that for a moment...that's on the patio... I'm at the patio door... That means she's walking right over here... do I say something? I wonder if she'll notice me, or remember me... ok be cool. I took a swig of my beer n relaxed in my chair trying to channel a little bit of a 'James Dean' type feel to the situation. The first guy swung the patio door open and stepped outside while lighting a smoke leaving her behind with the other guy. They were walking side by side pushing each other laughing. They were getting closer and closer and I was getting more and more nervous, she gave him one final shove and he hit the door bursting into a laugh as it opened with the impact and sent him flying outside which left only her inside. She took a few steps closer towards the door still laughing quietly. I adjusted myself in my seat n grabbed my beer again trying to keep my hands busy so I wasn't fidgeting so much. When I looked back up she was looking straight at me, "Hey... I know you," she said softly with a smile, my heart flew, "Ya... I know you too" I replied smiling.


	4. Chapter 4: Little Brother

**Chapter 4: Little Brother  
**

_Slight Recap:_

_Arthur's pov__  
__"Hey... I know you" she said softly with a smile, my heart flew, "Ya... I know you too" I replied smiling.  
_

Haylie's pov:

I couldn't believe it, what are the odds he'd be here. I stopped before the door as it swung shut. "How are you?" I couldn't think of what else to say, "Doin great, yourself?" "Just drinkin'," I lifted my beer up as if I was giving cheers. Just then a jolly looking fella marched up with a solid smile on, "Well that feels better! Another round?" Arthur turned to the man, "Uh, ya sure," then turned to me, "Haylie, this is Yusuf." Then he looked back to him, "Yusuf, this is Haylie," I raised a hand in a sort of wave and smiled, "Hello," then Arthur looked back to me again, "Would you like anything?" I sat down; "Sure," I couldn't stop looking at him with a smile on. I wanted to instantly burst out and ask his number but that'd be weird.

"How was the rest of your day? I hope it got better after the checkout fiasco?" I chuckled lightly, "Aaaahhh ya it got better, one of my friends came over n we just hung out n did nothing. How about you?" "I just went home, nothing special," he smiled a light smile as Nicole came running back in looking frantic, "I thought you left?" "You HAVE to come with me. NOW! Seriously I need help here this is fucked." I got up quick and glanced back at Arthur who looked panicked and slightly upset. I don't think he wants me to leave. I looked back at Nicole who was waving at me fast gesturing to the door, "Okay okay I'm coming, just a sec!" I spun around back to Arthur "just... what's your number?" I frantically patted down my clothes looking for my phone, "Here I'll just get yours," my eyes flashed up to see him grabbing his phone that was sitting on the table, he clicked away for a moment getting to the 'contacts' folder and looked up at me, "Number?" "246-3055" I practically shouted it at him as I ran out the door to the patio to tell the boys I was going, they're just as confused as I am. As I ran out the door and passed Arthur again I rushed out the words, "It was great to you see you again, gimme a text so I've got your number too! Yusuf, it was nice to meet you!" I grabbed my bag and phone off the bar, told the bartender the boys would pay whatever's left, and ran off to catch up to Nicole outside.

I instantly gasped as my mouth hung open. There he was, my little brother, standing unsteadily beside Shawna and dully looking up at me, "Oh my god, seriously? You need to stop this oh my god. This is fucked. You're fucked." I stomped forward and took my little brother, Sean, by the arm and dragged him away from the bar parking lot so no one saw us. It was a private issue. "What did you take?" He just stared at me as Nicole and Shawna ran up, "We found him on the way home. It took some coaxing to get him in the car but we figured we should get him to you," "Thanks I appreciate it," I couldn't take my eyes off him. I was frantic, my imagination was running wild with fears of possible outcomes and curiosity for what happened. His head fell down, "Sean," nothing, "Sean," I said a little louder, still nothing. "SEAN!" His gaze and dead looking face turned up towards my panicked face, he said nothing. I slapped his face trying to get him to snap awake, nothing. "Oh god...ok I gotta get him home. Would you mind driving me Shawna?" "No of course not, let's go," we loaded Sean into the blue Cavalier and headed to my place. "He's done this before. I don't know what drug it is he's taking but it needs to stop. It's ridiculous." We carried him to the couch and I built him a little bed there. The girls left and I stomped around my house for a bit, frustrated that this ruined my night to hang out with Arthur. Just then I got a text from an anonymous number and I opened it up, "Hey, it's Arthur", I smiled.

Arthur's pov

I watched as she ran off, her chestnut hair bouncing off her back. "I wonder what's so urgent," Yusuf voiced my curiosity, "Yea, I wonder". I decided to wait a while before I texted her, don't wanna look too eager. I relaxed in my chair as Eames returned with the blonde wrapped in his arms, "Another drink gentlemen?" He said with a smirk. I didn't want him to see how my heart was racing, but I was so preoccupied that I didn't answer and instead just stared at nothing with a very blank face which ended up giving it all away. "Excuse me darling," he lightly kissed the blonde and moved towards me, "Arthur, you sod, you let her go again?" "She ran off with her friend, they had some emergency," Eames gave a slight chuckle and looked away, "Aahhhhuhuhh an emergency," "She gave me her number, she's not blowing me off." I sat defiantly as he chuckled "probably a fake," and he walked off for a drink. "I'm out." Grabbing my jacket off the back of my chair I stormed out of the bar and headed home.

Sitting in the back of the cab I thought about what Eames said. 'She wouldn't do that'. I decided to test Eames' theory, it's been long enough right? I won't look eager now. Pulling out my phone my heart started to pound, 'she wants my number too, she said so herself'. I found her contact number and thought about what to say. As my heart continued to pound, I decided to keep it simple, "Hey, it's Arthur."

Haylie's pov:

Despite the situation with my brother I couldn't help but smile when I read the text from Arthur. "Hey, it's Arthur", I blushed instantly and my mind went blank. I couldn't think what to say, every word scattered through my brain. I ended up typing, "Hey Arthur, sorry I had to bolt", a few moments later my phone went off again, "It's alright, is everything ok?", "Sort of, the situations under control I think but I just don't know what to do :S" my eyes started to water a bit as I looked back at Sean sleeping behind me, "What's going on, can I help?" I let a small smile creep onto my lips as a tear ran down my cheek; "Only if you can fix my brother" "What's wrong?" "He's into drugs. I don't know what and I don't know why and I don't know what to do :'( I just can't figure him out, this is the third time he's done this now. He's completely out of it" the tears started to flood as I typed that text to Arthur, I truly didn't know what to do. "He's with you? I might be able to help... Have you ever heard of Extraction?" I was shocked about the idea, "Ya... Isn't that dream theft?" I waited a moment for his answer, "I guess you could call it theft, in this case I'd call it 'learning'... but we could go into his mind and find out exactly what's going on. We could learn what he's taking, why, and how we can help. That is, if you're comfortable with the idea... I can help with that..." I was confused, he could help? What does that mean? And he's my little brother how could I break in like that, it seems wrong somehow. "How could you help..." I didn't have to wait long for a response, "It's what I do, I hope that doesn't freak you out...", "no, it doesn't freak me out... I've actually always found the idea interesting. Something I want to experience one day but it seems wrong down it to my own baby brother :S I'm sure there are some things in there I do noootttt want to learn haha" I looked at Sean lying on the couch and he turned over, he looks like he's in pain. I sent him another text before he responded, "I don't care. Let's do it, he's in pain :( I want this solved." He answered right away, "Alright, we'll have to wait till he's clean. I don't know how drugs would react with this." I right away wondered what kind of things this included, do they drug him? "How does it work?" Arthur explained everything to me. I took a deep breath thinking about what I was about to do, "Alright, I'll text you tomorrow when he's back to life. Thanks for your help, I appreciate it :)", "Anytime :)" I changed into some pjs after checking on Sean and placing some water and a puke bucket beside him just in case. I plugged in my phone beside my bed and as I climbed in I picked it up one last time, "Gnight Arthur, I'm glad I met you again tonight :)"


	5. Chapter 5: Dream Break-In

**Chapter 5: Dream Break-In**

Arthur's pov

My phone went off again after about 20minutes but I didn't hear it until quite a while later, "Gnight Arthur, I'm glad I met you again tonight :)" as I read that my heartbeat rose again, I thought about responding and saying good night but I figured I didn't want to wake her. She probably thinks I'm an asshole since I didn't answer her. I knew at that point that I could have a future with this girl. She was perfect.

My phone rang around 2:30pm and I practically ran to answer it. "Well, somebody's excited," I glared at Eames as I picked up my phone and walked down the hallway.

"Hello?"

"Hey how's it goin?"

"Good, just had some lunch, how're you? How's your brother?"

"He was up a bit ago, he seems back to life. I think he's heading back to sleep, is now a good time?"

"He's asleep?"

"Heading there," I was playing with hair tie on my wrist, tying my fingers in it nervously,

"Alright, now should be good. Where are ya?"

I gave him the address to my apartment building and the key code to get in, still nervous about what I was about to do.

I cooked up some tea as I waited for Arthur, but as I waited for the water to boil I realized I looked like shit and my apartment was a mess. Screw the tea. I started running around frantically picking up clothes and trash and collecting dishes and trying to fix my hair at the same time. I suddenly heard my doorbell ring. Shit. I quickly finished throwing mascara on my long eyelashes and ran to the door, calmed down, and opened it slowly. Arthur stood there, perfect as ever, with a slight grin on his face and silver briefcase by his side. "Hey come on in," I backed up and gestured inside, "Wow, your place is lovely," he walked towards a painting of mine on the wall and I heard him mutter, "Amazing," he turned to me, "Did you do this?" "Yea, painting's a side hobby of mine. My grandpa was an amazing artist. Unfortunately he died when I was young and wasn't able to teach me anything. I remember watching him paint one time, but that's really all I remember." Arthur turned to me, "I'm sorry," he looked back at the stormy painting then back at me, "I don't think you need any teaching." I looked at him with a soft smile, "Thanks". We stood there just a few feet apart from each other smiling with locked eyes. Arthur looked down suddenly and broke the silence, I think he got nervous, "So where's your brother?"

I led him into the other room where I'd set him up in my bed. Arthur pulled a couple chairs next to the bed and opened up the silver briefcase. Inside was a big red button and a lot of tubes and cords, "What's that?" He was pulling out a long, thin tube with a needle on the end towards my brother. I took a step forward as he glanced back at me to answer, "This," he looked back at my brother then back to me, "is how we get into his subconscious. Take a seat." He gestured towards a chair as he injected the needle into my brothers' wrist. I started to panic, not understanding how this worked. He walked towards me with a tube just like the one he connected to my brother. He's so tall, "What's going to happen?" My voice was shaky as I spoke. He looked up into my eyes, smiling slightly as he crouched down to my level on the chair and picked up my arm. His touch is so soft and his hands are warm and gentle, I want him to touch me, to really touch me. He looked down as he pierced my wrist with the needle, I winced. He gently let my hand slide out of his and onto the arm of the chair. I watched him as he walked back to the case, injected himself and pressed the red button in the center of the case. I instantly felt numb and relaxed; it felt like every muscle had just melted into itself as I my head fell to the side and I drifted off.

Haylie's pov: 

When I 'woke up' I was standing in the middle of a messy apartment. I knew right away it was my brothers' house. There were clothes and dishes everywhere and the air smelled stale. I looked to my left and saw Arthur standing a few feet away from me looking calm as he poked at an ashtray on the coffee table. I am definitely not as calm as he is; it's a weird feeling knowing you're not actually there even though you are... if that makes any sense at all. I began to shake a little as I looked around. I'm so nervous; I don't understand this at all. What's happening? Where's Sean? Is he even here? I don't know if I even want to search around in here. It feels wrong, I started to doubt my actions, this is such an awkward thing to do, I'm breaking into my own brothers' house that's really in his head to snoop around and discover something he doesn't want to tell me in the first place. Such a breach in privacy, "I don't want to be here anymore," my voice was shaky as I looked around in a panicked way. Arthur walked towards me and put his hands on my shoulders, "it's ok, just take a breath. Take a deep breath," I was still looking around nervously, my eyes wide in what felt like fear, "Hey, hey, look at me," he gave me a slight shake to grab my attention, it worked. I looked up at him in his eyes and I calmed down immediately. There's something about his eyes, his features that just brings me back. Both our heads snapped to the bedroom door as it opened, "Uh, hi? When did you get here? I never heard the door open." "Hey Sean, uhm," I turned to Arthur, "This is my friend Arthur," my eyes flipped back to Sean, "We just wanted to say hi..." He stared at us blankly, "Ok... hi?" My brother and I weren't very close. I turned to Arthur, "Does he not know?" Arthur shook his head and slid his hands from my shoulders. Only then did I notice we were both wearing plain old jeans and t-shirts. Last I knew he was in a brown leather jacket and I was in leggings. I know I barely know him but I have a vague feeling this will be one of the only times I'll see him in grubby jeans and a grey t-shirt. A couple people all of a sudden came through the front door, they looked tough and I got a little nervous again. Who are they? I thought it was only us three plugged in? Does that mean someone broke into my house and plugged themselves in?! Arthur noticed me panic and put a hand on the small of my back, leaned towards me and whispered, "It's ok. They're just projections of his subconscious. They're not real." I let my breath go but I'm still freaking out here. "How are we even going to do this?" I whispered. He kept his eyes on the newcomers as they stepped towards us and moved his arm from behind me to in front of me slightly pushing me back. Sean stepped towards us, "What the hell are you even doing in my house?" He did not want us here. I don't think he knew he was dreaming but I think he knew what we were after. I've pestered him so many times wanting to find out what he was doing and every time he just got pissed off. Arthur stood tall in front of me as if some kind of rumble was about to break out. Sean doesn't like me snooping but it's not like he's gunna beat us up or something. The projections started coming towards us, Arthur pushed me further behind him till I was almost against the wall. Why is he so nervous? They're rough lookin dudes but they're not an army. "Arthur?" I took a step forward, "Stay back, they've sensed we're not supposed to be here. Nobody's subconscious likes to be messed around with." His voice was strained near the end as he caught one of the projections fists in midair and shoved him back. The rest of them ran at us and I screamed as one of them grabbed my arm from behind Arthur, "Haylie!" he yelled, still fighting as he was being pulled in the other direction. I struggled as hard as I could but I couldn't get away, they started beating me and it hurt like hell, I'm in a dream why does this hurt so bad?! "Arthur! Wake me up!" I could feel the blood trickling down the side of my face as I looked up and screamed as I saw the glass shatter when they violently threw Arthur out the window, "Arthur!" There was no answer from him but I screamed again and struggled harder as one of the projections charged at me holding a large shard of shattered glass from the broken window above his head and smashed it down slicing my face and stabbing right into onto my torso.

I jumped and launched myself forward ripping out the needle and coughing and feeling my head for the blood and holding my stomach with the other hand, my heart rate was through the roof and I swear I was about to hyperventilate. Arthur dove towards me and grabbed my shoulders turning me to face him to calm me down, not realizing it was him and still freaked out I threw my right fist out and clocked him in the side of the face knocking him backwards with a thump. I covered my mouth to stifle a scream as I noticed who he was and what I'd done. Coughing still I choked out the words, "Arthur I am so sorry." Both of us still being on the floor I crawled towards him and reached out to touch his face as it turned red, "If only you'd done that in the dream we would have been alright," Arthur chuckled as he sat up and took my hand off his face as he winced. I started scanning around the room and began to fully remember where I was. I looked at my brother lying on the bed, his eyes were half open now and he was looking right at me. I stumbled towards him and yanked the needle out before he saw it. I don't think he'd be too pleased to know that wasn't a dream he just had and that we were actually in his head. Arthur clambered to pack up the case and drag it into the other room but as he attempted to do so Sean sat up, "hey. Who are you," he sounded rough and angry, "this is my friend, Arthur, we were just checking on you, go back to sleep!" I pushed Arthur out of the bedroom as I said this and slammed the door shut after us. I didn't want Sean's first impression of Arthur to be 'the guy who invaded his dream'. Even though Sean and I weren't close, I still wanted him to like Arthur. I like Arthur.

He looked at me with sad eyes, "I'm really sorry about that," he took a step towards me, "about what?" I looked at him, slightly confused, "for what happened, I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" "I'm... Ok ya," I let out a slight laugh as my hand moved to my stomach again, "why are you sorry? That's Sean's subconscious right?" "Well ya but I should have warned you. I should have told you more about this stuff first." I looked down, "It's ok, you can explain it now though", I laughed awkwardly as he came over and sat me down in the couch. He took the seat next to me and took the next hour and a half explaining everything about extraction and dream sharing and everything about projections and how it all works. He told me about Architects, Forgers, Thieves, Extractors and about his position, the Point Man. "I wanna try it again, but without getting beat up," Arthur smiled lightly as he looked at me, "I'll set something up for ya," he grinned n shot a wink at me, my heart skipped a beat.


	6. Chapter 6: Dinner

Chapter 6: Dinner

Arthur's pov: 

I felt awful about what happened. I wanted to help her but instead I practically tortured her. I explained everything about extraction to her and it amazed me she wanted to do it again, I told her I'd set something up. It would be so wrong but so right at the same time if I could dream up a bedroom and make her the subject. But that's just creepy. I do want to kiss her though.

"So? How was your date?" I glared at Yusuf, "It wasn't a date. I was helping her." I put the silver case down and sighed, maybe I should text her and see if her brother was ok. No, it's too soon. "Did ya kiss her?" I looked up at Yusuf again, "No. No I did not kiss her." "But you wanted to," I ignored Yusuf and grabbed a pen and paper with a sigh and stormed off to a different part of the warehouse.

I tried to construct a really unique dream for her, build a world only we would know. My mind was blank though so instead I ended up doodling pictures of made up cartoon characters on the paper. Suddenly my pen shot off to the side as I jumped at the sound of my phone going off, it was Haylie. "Thanks for your help today, it sucks it went the way it did but I still really appreciate it :)" I smiled. I decided to channel a bit of Eames into my conversation, maybe that will help, "Anytime gorgeous ;)" it took a moment for her to respond and I started to get nervous, I shouldn't have said that, now she'll think I'm some kind of perv. I snatched at it when my phone rang again, "Haha ooOo gorgeous eh?" I smiled and my heart sped up, maybe that was the right thing to say. I thought for a moment, what would Eames say now? I decided to just go for it, "Would you like to get dinner later?" I shut my eyes tight and crossed my fingers until my phone rang again, "I was wondering when you'd ask, where d'you wanna go?" Holy crap. My face lit up, "I'm sorry I took so long, it'll never happen again :) and I will go wherever you'd like to" "Haha alright.. Well my friend works at a restaurant down on 5th street, wanna go there?" I panicked a little. First 'date' and I'm meeting friends. "Sure, sounds good. Pick you up at 6?" "Sounds good :) see you in a couple hours!" I. Am. So. Happy.

Haylie's pov

I was giddy as shit after my conversation with Arthur. Is this a date? Did he just ask me out? I couldn't decide whether he was just joking around when he was texting me or if he was seriously flirting. I decided to ignore that mystery and starting getting dressed. Only problem was Sean was still in my room sleeping.

I crept as silently as I could to my closet and pulled out some clothes. My favorite pair of black leggings (I find jeans uncomfortable and skirts and dresses seem too formal.) I wanted to grab a long pale blue off-the-shoulder shirt, (I liked it because it hugged my curves but didn't scream out the word 'whore' by showing off my chest) but I think it's in the dryer. My black leather jacket hung on a chair in the kitchen. Running to the bathroom to get dressed I heard my phone ring, "hello?"

"Hey it's Nic, how's your bro doing?"

"He's still passed out. He was up briefly n drank some water but that's about it." I decided to leave out the whole bit about me n Arthur breaking into his dreams n getting beat up.

"Ah, well that's good he's at least functioning."

"Ya, I can worry a little less now" I grabbed my makeup in my bathroom and started to fix up what I already had on, which was hard to do with a phone squished between my cheek and my shoulder.

I heard Nicole sigh on the other end, "whatcha doin tonight? I'm bored"

"Actually Arthur asked me out to dinner!" I said this with a squeal,

"Ooooo! Phone me after n tell me how it went! When n where are you going?"

"Goin to the restaurant Micky works at, I can never remember the name of it... and he's picking me up at 6"

"Shit! That's in an hour! I better let ya get ready"

"Haha ya it's hard gettin make up on while on the phone"

"Haha ya, been there! K well see ya, and good luck! Have fun! KISS HIM hahah"

"Haha I'll do my best, talk to ya laaaater!" I smiled as I pressed the 'end call' button and looked at myself in the mirror, 'kiss him' I repeated to myself. I continued to run around my house ripping clothes out of the dryer and braiding my hair to hang down on my shoulder. It didn't seem like it took as long as it did to get ready but my phone buzzed way too soon, "hey, I'm outside :)" my heart raced with excitement.

Arthur's pov

I waited outside, playing with my keys nervously as I leaned against my car, my black Chrysler 300. I've heard rumors they're not very well built but man are they sharp lookin. I straightened up as she opened the door to her apartment building and came out, she looked at me n blushed, 'aaah good, she's just as nervous as I am' "hey, you look lovely," I said as she walked over. She blushed a darker shade, I smiled n led her to the other side of the car, unlocked the door and opened it for her, "m'lady," I gestured to the seat as she laughed and I closed it after she got in. I was nervous as hell as I walked to the other side if the car and opened my own door to climb in. "So, where are we going?" She directed me to a restaurant downtown called 'The Green Apple', they did things like fish n chips, burgers, sandwiches, soup etc. it wasn't a very classy joint so I'm glad I didn't dress to the 9s like usual. Eames told me not to. He said I'd look cooler if I dressed like I didn't care. I thought that was too dressed down so I just wore some jeans, I nice white V-neck shirt and my brown leather jacket with some spiffy black shoes. "Hi and welcome to The Green Apple, is it just the two of you this evening?" The girl was standing there holding a couple menus in her arms looking at us, "yes two please" I said as I looked back at Haylie. She was looking straight forward smiling, maybe looking for her friend. "Right this way," the blonde girl led us to a table near the back if the restaurant, "your server will be right with you," she smiled big n turned to walk away. I turned to Haylie with a smile, "so how are you?"

"I'm good." She smiled, "you?"

"I'm good, how's your brother doin?" I didn't know what else to say,

She laughed lightly and looked down, "still passed out in my bed... Thanks for your help" she looked back up at me, her eyes were soft and she looked said. "But! Whatever, he can figure out his own life right?" She straightened up and took a deep breath. Maybe I won't bring that up anymore. I picked up my menu, "so what are you thinking"

She opened hers, "I dunno, I've never actually been here before." I looked up at her, I assumed she had cause if her friend. She continued, "Well I've been here to see Micky but I've never eaten here," she laughed that musical laugh. Micky eh, so it's a guy I'm about to meet. "Hi my name is Ashley I'll be your server for the evening. Any drinks to start?" "Just water please," she smiled as she looked up at 'Ashley', "a water ok, and you sir?" She turned to me and smiled, "just a water as well please," "alright just two waters then, I'll grab those for you and let me know if you have any questions about the menu" she smiled and slid her hand across my shoulder as she left. "Dyou know her?" I turned to Haylie with an awkwardly confused look on my face, "not at all," "looks like you've got an admirer then," she smiled awkwardly, I think she was jealous or angry or some kind if female anger was brewing inside her. Whatever it is, she has absolutely nothing to worry about. "Haylie," she looked up from her menu...

Haylies pov

'Stupid bitch waitress. Don't touch.' I glared at her in my head as she strutted off towards the kitchen. I distracted myself with the menu, I usually get pasta when i go out but I also usually make a mess with it. I didn't know what to eat, burgers look awkward, steaks are too big, salad makes me look like a priss, I didn't want finger food that'd make an even worse mess- I was cut from my thoughts, "Haylie," I looked up from my menu, "ya?" Arthur leaned back in his chair still looking at me, "you're gorgeous," my face felt hot as my cheeks went red in a strong blush and I smiled. I was about to say something but our waitress came back with a jug of ice water and started filling our glasses, Arthur's first obviously. "So any questions or are you ready to go?" She continued to look at Arthur, "still looking thanks, "she glanced at me and her smile turned slightly sarcastic, "alright then," and she looked back at Arthur, "I'll be back in a few then," and this time she walked away from our table expecting Arthur to stare at her butt as she went. I laughed a little in my head now knowing she has no chance. I looked back at Arthur; he was looking at his menu now but looked back up at me as felt my eyes on him. He started to speak, "Haylie, I know I barely know you but I-" and he was cut off. His phone rang. Stupid phone. I wanted to know! 'But I' what? What's the 'but'?! I could hear his end of the conversation, "Hello?...Hey...ya... I'm out at dinner... Haylie... Ya ya ya..." He looked at me and made a 'sorry 1 sec' gesture then turned away again, "really?... I didn't think we'd get that one... Now?..." He looked back at me, "I'm at dinner, Cobb I can't just leave..." He sighed and leaned back in his chair, eyes closed looking frustrated, "Ya... Well I guess I have no choice now do I... Ya... K... Ya see ya in a minute," he flopped forward again, his other arm that had been resting on the table tensed up, "ya... Bye." and he hung up. His head hung for a few, when he looked back up at me he looked upset and apologetic. "I'm sorry, I have to go... We just got a job for-" I cut him off. I didn't want him to have to continue, "it's fine, it's not like we ordered yet or anything right," I laughed, "nothing wasted," I looked down, trying to hide how upset I was. When I looked back up he looked like he wanted to say something but didn't know how, "I'm sorry... I don't want to go but I have to... Just... We'll have to try again, I'm sorry, he looked like he hated himself, "it's fine, ya we can just try another time." I smiled weakly at him as he got up n grabbed his jacket. Our waitress practically came running over, "is everything ok? Are you leaving?" I decided to cut in, "yes we're leaving thanks." I grabbed up my purse and pushed past her breaking up her closeness to Arthur.

The car ride home was pretty much silent, we both felt bad. As we pulled up to my apartment building Arthur finally spoke, his words rushed out of his mouth, "I'll text you! Ok?" I smiled and nodded as I turned to face him just outside the car, "mkay" I smiled, "good night! I hope your job goes well," Arthur spoke, his voice fallen, "good night, Haylie..." "I had a good time tonight, as short as it was," I smiled one last smile, trying to make him hate himself less, and I walked towards the door. As it opened and I walked in I heard him drive away. Lame.


	7. Chapter 7: Sevens

Chapter 7: Sevens

Haylie's pov:

I threw down my keys on the table as I walked into my apartment. "We'll that sucked," I said aloud to absolutely no one. I checked in my bedroom to see if Sean was still there, nope. After flipping down on the sofa I grabbed my phone and decided I'd phone Nicole and tell her about my night.

1 ring

2 rings

3 rings

"Hi you've reached Nicole Hammond, I don't know what I'm doing right now but I'm either not able to answer your call or I'm avoiding you. Please leave a message!" BEEEEEEEP

I sighed n threw my phone down on the couch, I bounced about 2 feet away from me before it started ringing. "Goddammit." I crawled along the sofa until I got to my ringing target, it was Nicole. "Hey,"

"Hey! You're earlier than I thought you'd be, how'd dinner go?"

"Not so good,"

"Uh oh,"

"Well it started off good, but then he got called in to work or something so he had to go. The waitress kept hitting on him hardcore too... But! He said I was gorgeous! So I'm ok with that part," I could hear her laughing on the other end.

"Well at least you're gorgeous right, how'd it end? What did he say when he left?"

"He said we should try again, so, I guess we'll do that. Just sucks"

"Ya, sounds kinda bunk. But whatever, next one will be better right!"

"Yup!" I sighed really loud into the phone and it was silent for a second.

"Wanna hangout?"

I looked at the clock on my wall, it's just 8, not too late for a drink, "ya for sure, stop at the liquor store on your way?"

"You be wantin' some Raspberry vodka?"

"You betcha. Smirnoff please!"

"Don't you have some leftover from the other night?" She laughed,

"Ya but not enough,"

Through her laugh I could hear her say "oh boy! Drunk night! Need any 7Up?"

"Nah I got tons thanks,"

"K cool, see ya in a sec!"

About 20min later there was a buzz on my intercom. "Hello?"

"Delivery man!"

"Yay! My booze is here!"

I buzzed Nicole up and as she came in I immediately pulled out the ice and cups and our night began.

"Heyyyyy! The fun's arrived kids! Move over. "Micky pushed me almost off the couch, "hey! My house my couch loser, move it," Micky came over around 9:30 with a 24 case of beer and decided he was 'the fun' of the night. "Whatsup Mick?" Nicole came over holding a fresh mix of rum n coke. Nicole and Mick had a bit of a thing about a year ago and neither of them seem to be over it. They like to think they are but everyone knows they'll get back together one day.

I got up n pushed Mick into the kitchen, "dude. I was at your work today with Arthur, and-"

"Who's Arthur?"

"Not the point of the story. Anyways, I was at your store with Arthur-"

"It's not my store its a restaurant,"

"K Mick shuttup, I was at your RESTAURANT-"

"It isn't mine," Mick was stifling a laugh now, he knew just how drunk I was and just how drunkenly frustrated this was making me.

"UUUAAAAGGGHHHH MICKY SHUTTUP," I hit him in the arm as my drink sloshed over the side and Micks beer foamed up,

"Alright! Alright! You were at MY STORE with Arthur and?"

He prodded me in the shoulder as I glared, "AND..." I glared, waiting for a response, "and your waitress-"

"She's not my waitress,"

"MICKYYYYY-AAAAHHHHH! STOPPIT!" I threw my head back while stomping my foot and just bailed on the conversation completely while Micky burst into laughter. Friggin loser.

2 hours later we were sitting on the floor in a circle playing a drinking game with Jason, Cory, Micky, and Louis; Louis is a buddy of Micky's but I've never been too fond of him. He seems to go wherever Micky goes though so whatever, I'm drunk anyways. "FIVE! HAH! Bitch card, Haylie, you're my bitch! Go get me a new drink." Louis waved his empty cup at me as he put the card into the pile of already drawn cards. He would make me the bitch. Asshole. "Jason, your turn," he drew a card from the upside down deck, "7. Augh. I hate Sevens I'm so bad at math." Jason complained, he was bad at math though, he even had a peer tutor as a kid. "Juuuust staaaart," Cory threw a small pillow at him, "alright... 1" next person In the circle was Nicole "2," next was Cory "3," it went around the circle like that until nicole screwed up and the game ended. I hate Sevens too, everytime you count to a number with a 7 in it or a multiple of 7 you have to just say "fuck you" and then the direction of the circle changes. When the circle gets to 27, 28 it always messes people up though so I don't blame her. 27 having a number in it and 28 being a multiple is the only time it bounces twice in a row and drunk people are always stumped by it.

The night carried on this way until we all got distracted by the idea of going bowling. I suck at bowling. I don't know why though but the guys are obsessed with it lately. There's a girl that works there, Erin, pretty sure she's why they like to go.

"Should I invite Arthur?" I looked at Nicole with half-closed drunk eyes, "noooo I think maybe you should keep this face to yourself." She gave me a sarcastic pat on the back and laughed. "Taxi's here!" Cory has the loudest yell ever. I bet the cab driver heard him too.

I rolled over in my bed, head pounding and every muscle feeling like crap. _What the hell happened last night? _I slowly pushed myself out of bed while groaning and realizing I have no pants on. _Uuuhh _Looking around my room I found my pants lying on the ground covered in booze and lasagna. _That's a weird combination. _After throwing on some sweatpants I shuffled into the living room, first thing I saw was Jason, Cory and Louis bailed out on the floor and Nicole and Mick cuddling on my couch, I smiled knowingly while holding my head trying to stifle the headache that was pounding viciously and echoing all through my brain. "Hey," I spun around to see Cory looking about as haggard as I felt, "hey man," "where did we get lasagna?" "no clue." He led me into the kitchen where there was lasagna splatted allover the walls, windows, floor, "what the..." "no clue man". Cory and I hungout for a while watching crappy Pawn Shop shows on tv until several hours later when Cory, Louis, Jason, Nic and Mick woke up. We spent the rest of the day trying to remember what the hell happened but nothing really came to mind, there was nothing solid we could remember. I got up suddenly, "you guys hangout n' whatnot, my house is your house. I'm goin to bed though, gnight guys," "gnight, I'm probably just gunna head home I think," Nicole looked at Micky as she said this with a slight smile, "ya, same," Mick smiled back at her with a slight wink. Jason, Louis and Cory just sat around on my couch watching movies while I slept but before I could sleep I heard a quiet chime from my phone. My heart instantly leaped as I shot off my bed to find my phone. When I finally found it squished under my booze and lasagna soaked pants I quickly looked at the screen and smiled as the name 'Arthur' shone back at me.


	8. Chapter 8: We All Still Dream of 'Her'

**Chapter 8: We're All Still Dreaming of 'Her'**

Arthur's pov:

I pocketed my keys as I walked into the warehouse; still carrying my coat, "alright so what's the job." Cobb; who was rifling through a stack of papers; looked up at me from behind the desk, "The owner of a bank needs us to find out what's happening to all the money," He paused and looked back down to his papers, "I need you to do some background checks for me on a few people." "Ya? Who," Cobb lifted his head to me again, I threw my coat down onto the chair beside me as I stepped forward to take the papers he was passing me, "Well the owner is Michael Marrin. I looked over one of the papers briefly, "this is dated 3 years ago," I looked up a Cobb, "yeah Michael said this has been going on for a long time. He should have dealt with this years ago." "And why didn't he?" "I think he thought it was just an accident in calculations because over the three years he's been hiring and firing secretaries like crazy." "Ahh," I nodded my head as I continued to scan the paper, "So what's the plan then? Who's our subject?" Cobb handed me another paper, "We're going to do a couple dream-dives on this job. First is this guy, Greg Leesick." I took the paper and checked out the picture in the top right corner, tall guy, brown hair, pretty average appearance, "So why him?" "He's the manager of the bank, he should have a good idea about the other staff and Michael himself. After we get whatever info we can from him, we'll know who to hit next." "So I need to look into everyone then," "Greg and Michael mostly, but anything you can get about the other staff would be insanely useful." "Alright then, got anymore papers for me?" Cobb handed me a blue file stuffed with papers. "I'm assuming this is the staff list," "Yeah, there are a lot of them," he popped a slight grin as he looked up at me, "you've got your work cut out for ya," I let out a huff of annoyance, "sorry for ruining your date." I nodded and lifted my eyebrows in frustration and looked up at him just as Eames walked in, "leaving keeps the girl wanting more, my dear Arthur, this was actually a good thing for you." He propped his hands onto his waist as he said it; pushing back the sides of his coat as he did so, "you need all the help you can get." I turned to look at Eames and shook my head, "thanks," I mumbled coldly and walked to the chair to grab my jacket before I left for my office. Or at least what I call my office. It's pretty much just a corner of the warehouse that's far away from everyone else. I flopped down on my chair tossing the papers down on the table and while putting my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands I let out a sigh. This job has the worst timing ever, why did it have to happen right at the beginning of dinner. Didn't even have the time to TRY and kiss her. I sat up and started leaning back in my chair _alright Arthur, things didn't go THAT bad. So you walked out on dinner, whatever. Just text her she'll understand, it was for work. _I pulled my cellphone out from my right jacket pocket and scrolled through my contacts until I found her name. 'Haylie'. I smiled as I read it. I opened it up to send her a text, "Hey, how was the rest of your night? I'm sorry I had to leave dinner." I reread the text almost 20 times and I never even pressed 'Send'. She probably doesn't want to hear from me. It was a pretty dick move to just bail on dinner not even ten minutes in, especially since it was just after the waitress started hitting on me. She probably thinks I made it all up so I could hit up the waitress. _Fuck. I can't message her now. _

I sat there in front of my computer just staring at the screen until I decided to attempt to accomplish something and started looking up the staff from the bank. I started with the manager, Greg Leesick, just as Cobb had wanted me to. I'm glad I started with him because I'm pretty sure the entire thing is all about him. A couple hours later I began scrounging up all the papers in front of me as I told the computer to print the websites and files I was reading and marched out to Cobb. "This was easy," I took a seat at Cobbs' desk as I dropped the papers onto his keyboard for emphasis, "It's the manager." Cobb looked up at me in confusion, "his signature is on every single document signing out money and as every day passes by he gets richer and richer. I'm not sure how he's getting away with this, its pretty obvious that it's definitely him." Cobb checked out the papers I had just printed off, "perfect, good job Arthur. I'll let the others know and they can start figuring out their parts." "Alright, so we know it's him how are we supposed to prove this?" "We can get everyone together tomorrow and figure that out, he must be working with someone to help cover his tracks." Cobb stood up from behind his desk and collected the papers to put them in folder, next he grabbed his coat; he looked like he was in a rush; I took a step away from the door, "Hey where ya goin'?" "Out." Cobb looked up at me as he grabbed his totem off the table, "I have some things to do." As he pushed past me I noticed the spinning top rolling around between his fingers, "you've been dreaming again... of her," He stopped walking and took a deep breath and without looking back he muttered, "Good night, Arthur." and left.


	9. Chapter 9: Greasy Hangover Texts n Plans

**Chapter 9: Greasy Hangover Texts and Plans**

Arthur's pov

After Cobb left I went back to my 'office' and pushed my phone around on the table for a bit, sliding it from hand to hand back n forth. I eventually decided I was being a little bitch and that I should just text her, but being the nervous little sketch that I am I decided to sleep instead and just went home to my apartment down the street. It's just a little one bedroom place but it's all I need, it holds me and my stuff and that's enough for me.

The next morning I woke up feeling like an idiot. _Why didn't I just message her?_ I don't understand my brain sometimes and I'm supposed to be the smart one. I marched into the kitchen and threw some cereal in a bowl with some milk dumped on it and sat in front of the TV eating it and watching a documentary on the Mayan civilization, History channel always has really random stuff on it, always interesting though. I finished my cereal and walked back to the kitchen to put the bowl and spoon in the dishwasher. I stood there leaning against the counter for a while just staring at nothing until I slapped myself mentally and just sent her the text I had written last night, "Hey how was the rest of your night? I'm sorry I had to leave dinner." It was around noon so I figured she'd be up and alive by then.

Haylie's pov

"Hey, how was the rest of your night? I'm sorry I had to leave dinner." I squinted a bit while I read it, I was so hungover that the light from my phone was stinging my eyes, but I was determined to read and respond. "It was alright, had a couple friends over and had a few drinks. I think I'm gunna take a quick nap but then wanna go grab some food?" I looked away from my phone and threw my hand over my closed eyes trying to squash out the pounding headache I had as I waited for a response. _Ugh why did I drink so much? _I groaned and rolled over in my bed in an attempt to burry myself in the blanket when my light was flicked on and a giant force came hurling at me, "JAAAASOOOOONNNNN OOOOWWWEEE" He had leaped on the bed with full force and landed half on my hips, _how is he so awake?!_ "Why are you so giddy?!" I smacked him in the back as he squirmed around in my blankets, he's definitely still drunk. "Get ooooofffffff," I groaned and pushed him until he rolled off the other side of the bed and fell on the floor with a thump. "Who ya textin? Eh? Whatcha doin? Whats goin on? Wanna do something?" I simply glared at him, "JAAASON THE SHOW'S BACK ON!" I heard Cory yell from the other room, "we're watching Night at the Roxbury on TV, wanna join?" aaand he was calm again, "nah it's cool, I'm gunna take a nap I think." "Later gator," Jason jumped on the bed and ran across it heading for the door while shoving his hand in my face obnoxiously. Ugh. I rolled over again so my face was thoroughly buried in the pillow when my phone went off again. "Ya food would be grand, I'm starving! And it's my treat for bailing on ya ;) Text me when you wake up :)" I read Arthurs text and smiled and thought to myself, _it's nice to know he didn't bail on dinner on purpose, _and Ijust responded with, "K, will do :)" and then fell asleep holding my phone.

Arthur's pov

I read her response when my phone rang, "It was alright, had a couple friends over and had a few drinks. I think I'm gunna take a quick nap but then wanna go grab some food?" I read that and thought, _I'm not hungry at all_, but answered with, "Ya food would be grand, I'm starving! And it's my treat for bailing on ya ;) Text me when you wake up :)" _Yessss, she's not angry. _I threw my fists up in the air in mock triumph knowing she hasn't given up on me and waited for her response. Just as I got her text, "K will do :)" Cobb called.

"Hello?"

"Hey Arthur, we're all getting together at the warehouse to discuss how this is all gunna go down. Meet us there in 45 alright?"

"I JUST made plans with Haylie to take her out for food because I bailed on her yesterday."

"When are you going?"

"Whenever she wakes up."

"You made plans with her while she's asleep? I don't think that counts as plans, sounds kind of one-sided to me."

"Hah. Hah. Hilarious. I spoke to her and now she's napping."

"Right, anyways, we need to figure this out so meet us in 45 at the warehouse, you can leave whenever for your little 'date' and we'll just catch you up later on the stuff you miss."

"Sounds good, see you soon."

I put my phone in my pocket and left to my room to get dressed. After I looked in the mirror, and looked at myself; black pinstripe pants, white shirt, black vest, black shoes, black coat, silver watch... I look good.

While I waited, I decided to do a bit more research on the staff of this bank. I rifled through the staff list reading off the names until I got to hers, 'Haylie Mainer'. Actually I wasn't sure if it was her or not, I don't know her last name, but not many people spell 'Haylie' like that. I figured maybe I'll ask her casually where she works later when we get food, for now though I'm going to do some grade A snooping. Age: 27 _good, not too much younger than me, only about 4 years difference... if it's her... _Birthday: January 12th, _shit if this is her, her birthdays coming up soon. I should do something really cool for her... _Full Name: Haylie Marie Mainer, _Marie, I've always loved that name... _Family: Mother and Father- deceased. _Harsh... _Brother- Sean Gavin Mainer, 24. _Sean...yup... it's her. _I sat back in my chair and stared at the screen. _I wonder if she knows anything about this... maybe I'll ask her about this while we're out too... _Position: Teller clerk. I rocked back onto the back legs of my chair for a minute or two before printing off the page and moving on to the next staff member. Business is business, right?

In 45 minutes exactly I walked through the doors of the warehouse, only Cobb and Yusuf were there. I shook my head lightly, "Classic Eames, always late," "Pardon me, Arthur, but I do believe I got here far earlier than you did," I looked over to see Eames walking towards us from around a pillar, _damn, _I thought to myself. "Alright so how are we going to do this, guys? Let's drum up some ideas here," Cobb looked directly at me, "Arthur, do you have any more information on the staff for us?" I pulled out some papers I had printed off and handed them to Cobb, "Haylie actually works for this bank, I just realized this, I could talk to her later... see if she knows anything." "Sounds good, that will help, Yusuf, anything new on your end?" "Not too much no; I've only been making more of the compound, I haven't done much experimenting lately." "That's good; we're going to need a lot of the stuff. We have to make a few dives, which reminds me, I need to go find us another forger. "What's wrong with me? I take offence to that," Cobb put on his jacket as he looked up at Eames, "any recommendations? I think we need two." "Shall I come with you then? There's a man in Italy I became friends with while I was doing a job for a girl who-... Well that's a story for another time. Point is I think he'd suit the job." "Alright," Cobb grabbed some papers and his cellphone off his desk, "Italy it is. I'll call Saito, maybe he can hitch us a flight on that airline he bought," Cobb shot a wink at Eames. "We also need a new architect with us." Eames looked up at him, "All of your issues are done with, why don't you just build?" Cobb merely looked at him then looked away as he put his hand in his pocket to feel for his totem, "I want someone devoted to it," was all he said as he walked out the door. Yusuf got up and went to the back where his lab was situated and I just sighed and hung my head over the back of the chair. I was about to get up and head to my desk when my phone went off, "Hey, I couldn't sleep the boys are too loud. Food?" "Sure, where would you like to go?" "Anywhere greasy, I am suuuuuper hungover right now I need something to just soak it right up." "Haha alrighty, I'll come pick you up in 10?" "Sounds good :)" "Alright, I'll let you know when I'm outside k :)" I headed for the door of the warehouse when I remembered I was going to take her into another dream. After thinking about it for a moment I grabbed the silver case from behind my desk, "Yusuf, would you be able to help me out later? I'm gunna take Haylie for a dream," he looked up from his desk at me, "of course, just let me know when." "Thanks," I nodded in appreciation, straightened my coat a bit and left.


	10. Chapter 10: Architects and Awkward Times

**Chapter 10: Of Architects and Awkward Times**

Haylie's pov

My phone buzzed from the corner of my bed where I'd tossed it so I could get dressed, "Hey I'm outside!" I smiled and looked at myself one last time in the mirror, dark grey leggings, a long tan shirt, brown button-up sweater, grey looped scarf, black boots... I look alive. "I'm coming!" I texted back and raced to the door, then realized in my haste I had forgotten my purse, raced back and grabbed my purse and checked my pocket for my phone, _ok, good I'm to go,_ and raced back to the door and out to meet Arthur. He was leaning on his car again waiting to open my door for me, "hello there sir" I smiled at him, "hey, you look amazingly beautiful for a hung-over person," he grinned down at me as he opened my door. We held eye contact as I smiled and blushed lightly, "and yoouu look very dashing" my smile widened as he chuckled, "thank you," and closed my door. "So? Where are we off to my dear?" "Wherever actually I'm feeling a lot better, grease isn't necessary anymore," I laughed slightly embarrassed, not sure why I felt that way but I did. We ended up eating at Ricky's Grill, the only place in town where I could get breakfast for lunch and breakfast will always be the best meal in my opinion. "I brought the dream case with me," Arthur wiped his mouth lightly with his napkin as he looked up at me, "pardon?" I stopped mid-bite and looked at him, "you said you wanted to try dreaming again so I brought the case. You don't have to, I just brought it in case you felt like it..." he looked so nervous while he talked it was cute, "sure" I stopped him mid-ramble and smiled at him. "Alright," he smiled bright at me, "we could go to my place after lunch if you're comfortable with that" I giggled lightly, "of course I'm comfortable with that, sounds good" I'm so excited now to finish my food.

Arthur's pov

"Huh... So this is my dream... You're the subject.." Haylie stopped walking and looked around her, "these buildings are all mine and the people are yours?" she turned questioningly to me as I scanned to check the projections, "yea, this is how we get into the subjects mind. By building something they can relate to. For example our last job was trying to break up a major corporation. It was actually inception though as opposed to extraction," "inception?" "Yes, it means to plant an idea as opposed to stealing one. The father and son didn't get along and we needed the son to break up his fathers' accomplishments relating to the corporation. The father was dying and his son was our subject so we ended the levels with a hospital so that he's being with his father and realizing every feeling we had planted for him and the catharsis there made everything stick." "Huh...what do you mean ended the 'levels'? Plural?" "Yes in a dream we can still go further into the subjects subconscious by putting him under again," "couldn't that get dangerous? How do you know what you'll find? Maybe this guy's really screwed up. Like my brother for example." She looked ahead again and kept walking, "we never know what we're going to find, but that's where I come in. As Point Man it's my job to study the subject and anyone involved to get a feel of what we should expect." "Cool, so I can warp all this stuff then," she stopped walking and looked at a building. It started to slide sideways towards the next one and they combined together and changed them completely from short, almost windowless buildings into a massive clock tower, "wicked," it was a very intricate antique clock tower with engraved and shaped levels and pillars, I looked down at her and her face was so excited; at that moment though a projection walking past and gave her a stare. "Are they noticing? Like in my brothers' dream?" She looked back at me with a bit of fear in her eyes, "yes, but I think our time is almost up, don't worry, Yusuf will wake us soon." She looked forward again and started walking, "if he's waking us soon I might as well have some fun right?" she looked back at me with a small smile as she stopped again and looked up towards the sky, "if I can change buildings and this is all a dream... I can change colors too right?" I looked up at the sky and watched as it faded from blue to purple, to pink, to red, orange, yellow, and all the way through the rainbow until it landed on an interesting smear of different shades of green, the sun turned white, and I followed her eyes as she turned the street blue and some of the buildings went red and others went interesting shades of orange. C'mon, I nudged her forward but she didn't move. She was staring to her right, I looked over and she was changing a small cafe into an ice rink. "C'mon! Let's go skating," she grabbed my hand and just as we were about to enter the skating rink with the purple ice a projection shoved her down and another one grabbed me and pulled me away. "Haylie just stay calm!" "If I change it all back will they stop?!" she was struggling and almost screaming her words as they pushed her around, "I know it hurts but we'll wake up soon!" I kicked and wrestled with the projections holding me as I watched her crouched down shielding her head, "when are we waking up?!" I heard her scream just as I heard the music play. "Now! Now! We wake up now!" She screamed as one grabbed her arm and the other grabbed her face while her legs were being pulled in the other direction. One kicked her in the ribs and she screamed again. Fuckit his is torture to watch! I wrestled harder and finally got loose and threw myself forward toward Haylie. I began throwing projections back but they began to turn on me again. "ARTHUR WAKE ME U-" my eyes flashed open as I woke up and dove towards her once again. I had my left hand on her knee and my right on her face. "I am so sorry. Why does this always happen to you," she started to tear up and a very small tear fell down her cheek, I wiped it away with my thumb. I hate myself.

Haylies pov

I stayed in my chair as Arthur stood up facing away from me holding his face in his hands. I could tell he felt terrible. I stood up, and lightly began to rub his back and rested the side of my face on his back. "It's not your fault. It's mine. I shouldn't have been changing things." He turned to face me, hugged me tight and kissed the top of my head resting his lips there for a long, light forgiving kiss. I looked up at him from my tippy toes; he's so much taller than me; we were about to kiss when Yusuf cleared his throat. Definitely forgot he was there. "I think maybe I should head out hmm?" He had been packing up the silver case as we were growing closer. Awkward. Just then Eames walked in biting an apple, "going under without me? Harsh Arthur." Arthur and I broke apart, the moment lost. "Aaah I see, good evening, Kitten," Arthur shot him a look, "hey Eames," I waved a sarcastic wave at him and smiled. I turned back to Arthur, "what're you doing over here?" Eames shrugged, "I was bored, knocked, Yusuf let me in. You kids wanna get some drinks?" I looked up at Arthur with a small smile as he looked down at me questioningly, I looked back at Eames, "sure," I glanced back up at Arthur to make sure that was what he was looking at me for, he smiled, and I did well.

Arthur's pov:

"Ooooo, soorryyyy," "shuttup Yusuf." I snarled and walked towards Eames at the front door as Yusuf packed up, "Anything new?" "I think Ariadne's considering going back to finish school. She was talking to me about getting her degree. I don't think she'll leave but she won't be with us all the time. We need another architect to help fill in the cracks." I looked towards the door Haylie had just walked out of, "Haylie just shared dreams with me, she did a really good job creating and changing our world. Maybe if she had some training with Ariadne and one of us she'd be able to help." "That could work; maybe she and Ariadne could team up or something, we should run this by her later tonight," Haylie came skipping out of the washroom just as Eames finished talking, I nodded a 'yes' to him and we all headed out. Haylie was putting on her boots as I turned and spoke quietly to Eames, "we should invite Cobb and Ariadne, they should probably be in on this too," "mmhm," he made a noise of agreement as we all walked out the door. "You excited to play with the big kids, kitten?" Haylie looked up at him with a smirk, "you may be older and bigger but I can out-drink you any day." "Oh is that so? Sounds like a challenge to me." I ushered Haylie into the front seat of my car as Yusuf and Eames headed to their cars. I suddenly called out to Eames, "Call Cobb and Ariadne!" "of course your majesty!" he yelled back across the parking lot, "dam right," I muttered to myself as I got in the driver's seat, "ready to go?" I looked at her with a smile and she brightly smiled back and sarcastically giggled out, "of course your majesty."


End file.
